Nia Kai Reed (born June 27, 1996) is an American professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player who plays as an opposite hitter for the

United States women's national volleyball team The United States women's national volleyball team participates in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball. The current head coach is three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant beac ...

and for South Korean professional team Gwangju AI Peppers.

Early life

Reed was born in Cleveland, Ohio to parents William and JoMoree. She grew up in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, t ...

and attended high school at

Immaculate Heart Academy Immaculate Heart Academy (IHA) is an all-girls college preparatory private Roman Catholic high school located in Washington Township, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school colors are blue and white, and the school's athletes ...

. At Immaculate Heart, she was a four-year starter and led her team to four straight non-public state championships. She was named Player of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and played on the USA Volleyball Girls' Youth A2 team. She was the 12th ranked national recruit in her graduating class, and chose to play for Russ Rose at Penn State.

Career

College

While at Penn State, Reed

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

her freshman year, with her career spanning a total of five seasons from 2014–2018. Penn State won the NCAA national championship in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

during her redshirt season, although she was unable to play in any matches. She helped lead Penn State to the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Final Four during her junior season. In 2018, her final season with Penn State, she was named an AVCA honorable mention All-American after finishing the season with a team-best 3.26 kills per set, hitting .253 and scoring 385.0 points. Penn State won a Big Ten title in 2017.

Professional clubs

Halkbank Ankara Halkbank Ankara is a professional men's volleyball team based in Ankara, Turkey and sponsored by the state-owned Halkbank. It was founded on 21 July 1983 as Halkbank Spor Kulübü with blue, white and red colors ...

(2018–2019) * Edremit Bld. Altınoluk (2019–2020) *

Volero Le Cannet Volero Le Cannet is a French volleyball club based in Le Cannet. It was formed by the elite team of Volero Zürich joining Entente sportive Le Cannet-Rocheville. Team ''As of December 2018.'' The following is the roster of the club in the 2018 ...

(2020–2021) * Sesi Vôlei Bauru (2021–2022) * Gwangju AI Peppers (2022–)

USA National Team

In May 2022, Reed made her national team playing debut when she was named to the 25-player roster for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament.

Awards and honors

Clubs

* 2020–2021 Brazilian Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Sesi Vôlei Bauru. * 2021–2022

South American Club Championship South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

– Bronze medal, with Sesi Vôlei Bauru * 2021–22 Brazilian Superliga – Bronze medal, with Sesi Vôlei Bauru * 2021–22 Paulista Championship – Bronze medal, with Sesi Vôlei Bauru

College

*2014 NCAA Division I National Champions * AVCA Honorable Mention All-American (2018)

References

External links

Team USA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Nia 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Cleveland Opposite hitters American women's volleyball players Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball players American expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate volleyball players in France American expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate volleyball players in Brazil American expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate volleyball players in South Korea American expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate volleyball players in Turkey African-American volleyball players People from Fort Lee, New Jersey 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women Immaculate Heart Academy alumni